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'The Cardinals' review or 'Miracles with the strings attached.'

'The
Cardinals', Stan's Cafe

Roundhouse
Studio Theatre, 14th January 2013

Written for The Ham & High

Mime
is often seen as a rarefied genre but Stan's Cafe's 'The Cardinals',
part of the London International Mime Festival, is very silly indeed.
The central premise sounds rather sophisticated: a bunch of Cardinals
stage a chaotic religious-themed puppet show, thus teasing out the
link between theatre, religion and the suspension of disbelief. But
this slapstick sketch show is much closer to The Reduced Shakespeare
Company's blockbuster, 'The Complete Word of God'.

Amidst
increasing backstage chaos, three Cardinals (Grame Bell, Rochi Rampal
and Craig Stephens) and their Muslim stage manager (Rochi Rampal)
perform a puppet-show of 'God's Greatest Hits'. We're shown a range
of religious miracles, only with all the (frayed) strings attached.
Jesus walks on water, as a Cardinal desperately clings onto the
framework above. The Red Sea is parted – but only on the command of
a frantic actor hovering nervously in the wings.

The
serious demeanour of the cast and the shambolic nature of their show
clash entertainingly. The contrast between the Cardinals' earnest
intent and the bemused reaction of the audience also prompts some
interesting questions about the shifting status of religion today.

But
the joke runs out of the steam, as director James Yarkers calls
repeatedly on the same gags. The music sticks, the Cardinals forget
their cues or a vital prop is mislaid. The light-entertainment grows
heavy handed.

What's
missing here is that extra meta-theatrical element that might elevate
this show beyond the slapstick. The Cardinals characters and their
connection with the material on stage is barely explored, nor their
tension with the Muslim stage manager. Once the company reach the
Apocalypse, they do make some references to 9/11 and suicide bombers.
But these allusions come too late and the show fails to reach out
beyond the make-shift theatre and into the real world.